Alvaro Noboa

'We could ask for measures against Noboa´s Export Company'

Exportadora Bananera Noboa, of the former presidential candidate from Prian, Álvaro Noboa, was notified yesterday by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the payment of about $ 86 million for alleged non-payment of taxes due in 2005.

The notification was accomplish during the morning and was received by the attorney Fernando Alarcón, who was in the company's facilities located in the 7th floor of the Atlas building in Guayaquil. After this, the exporter company has 72 hours to present their arguments and resources.

Johnny Amat, from IRS, gave the legal notification, after the last Monday, the second chamber of the District Attorney Court dismissed an appeal made by the company, asking to file the action followed by the IRS.

In case the Exporter Company does not present an action until Friday, the IRS may seek injunctive relief, freezing of accounts, withhold funds, including the seizure, warned the head of the agency, Carlos Marx Carrasco.

If some resources are presented, the case will leave the area of Revenue and move to the judicial field.

IRS director explained that the collection process to Noboa´s Company is firm "from the time they did not submit the deposit of 10% of the total value claimed".

Speaking to Radio Vision he said that being firm in the administrative order, would show that the company "had fraudulently concealed half of the information".

The official said that the company of the former presidential candidate conducts its transactions through two intermediaries: Pacific Fruit, located in the State of Delaware (USA) through which performs 34% of sales, and Kelson Interprise, in Nassau (Bahamas), through which the product sells to Europe and Japan.

In relation to a petition for review filed to IRS by Exportadora Bananera Noboa, who questioned the calculation of the gloss (alleged difference between CIF and FOB prices), Carrasco called it "Last ditch effort," but he declined to advance an institutional response. In any case, he clarified that this action does not stop the act of recovery. The gloss for the alleged non-payment of taxes in 2005 is not the only problem with the company of former candidate. The IRS has established another gloss for about $ 60 million for the year 2006.

In this case, "the taxpayer has the option of filing an administrative complaint or dispute directly with the Tax Court," said Director of Revenue. Carrasco reported that in 2009 the Exportadora Bananera Noboa declared zero income tax and losses of about $ 3 400 million.

He also revealed that the company is in the process of change its name to Bana Conti (Banana Continental), with the same assets but with other shareholders, in which is not include Álvaro Noboa, but his family and others are include, one of them the Assemblyman from Prian, Vicente Taiano, that owns 75% stake.

Carrasco assumes that the change reflects the purpose of evading the payment of advance tax, because the law exempts newly established companies. Carrasco will be called to the assembly. The Assemblyman of PRIAN, Luis Noboa, nephew of Álvaro Noboa, announced that he will call the IRS holder to explain him the methodology used to calculate the gloss imposed on the company from his relative.

The Assemblyman said that Exportadora Bananera Noboa is the largest group of taxpayers and that any action against it will be prejudicial for hundreds of employees. He added that the IRS should revise the tax behavior of all the banana exporters and not focus only on the Noboa Company.